Wednesday, 31 October 2018

As I write this, on 24th October, the end of the month is in sight. I have been able to maintain the discipline of doing an ink drawing every day. I must confess that I am now starting to get a little bored and I’m looking forward to November!

All drawings, with the exception of the collaged portrait, were done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook A5. It’s a favourite for ink because of the smooth plate finish. At 270 gsm the paper is tough and even where there is crazy, heavy cross hatching there is no show through on the back of the page.

Amellie from Sktchy - Black BIC ballpoint pen

Amellie II. Using the same Sktchy muse as the previous portrait - this time with watercolour, collage and ink.

I have to admit that last few days have been a struggle. What I have found, though, from the discipline of regular daily drawing, is that I really do enjoy losing myself in an image. The meditative state induced by cross hatching is addictive. Portraits using a simple ballpoint are the most satisfying since the marks have a subtlety not easily achieved with a fountain pen or felt tip pen for that matter.

I think I have found the solution to keeping my interest high and completing some worthwhile drawings.

I would still plan to draw every day but to do fewer drawings with a more holistic theme. I could perhaps take a few days or a whole week to complete each drawing. At the end of the month I would have a coherent body of work with a meaningful theme instead of 31 disparate drawings.

Wednesday, 24 October 2018

So far, so good. It’s twenty three days into October and I have been able to keep to the challenge of drawing in ink each day. Some days it has been a struggle. I knew ahead of time that being true to the offical prompts would be problematic so I decided to draw whatever I felt like if the prompt was not inspiring.

Here is a selection of the drawings. I’ve used a variety of pens and inks, ranging from the humble ballpoint pen to the calligraphic Sailor Fude or brush pen.

Monday, 15 October 2018

Yesterday I listened to the podcast Art for All hosted by Danny Gregory. The episode looked back to the start of Sketchbook Skool in April 2014. I had followed Danny’s blog since I moved to Australia at the end of 2010 (Wow that was eight years ago!) so I heard the first announcements of this new online course.

When he talked about starting this online course aimed at encouraging people to get and sketch more I realised this was what I needed. I had always sketched, but mostly only when I was away on holiday when I had time on my hands, before but now I wanted to make drawing a daily routine.

Beginning

I loved that first course as did many others. We didn’t care that it was a little rough and ready.(Truth be told I don’t think many of us knew that it could have been more polished) The enthusiastic and supportive community that quickly grew was, I think, the main reason for its success. Membership of the Facebook Group today has grown to a whopping 17,655 people from maybe 1,500 at the start.

I wrote a letter to Danny - The six weeks that changed my worldabout my experiences doing Beginning. All that I said there still applies today. You can find this in a separate Page here.I did my homework religiously. Here's mine for Tommy Kane - first my living room and then I went to my local cafe to record EVERY detail!

I went on to complete Seeing and Storytelling, as well as Bootcamp for those who had completed the first three courses. Some time later Urban Sketching came along with a mixture of old and new material.

Then I took a break.I was interested to hear on the podcast that about the time that I took a break, Danny and Koosje were pondering the future of Sketchbook Skool.

The courses that followed didn’t ‘speak’ to me, I didn't really want to make cards or maps or play with lettering. Painting and TeachingPainting in oils was my main focus and I was exhibiting in local exhibitions. By this time too, my Studio where I teach art to small classes was quite well established. Since much of my time is focused on teaching I’m always looking for ways to enhance and grow my teaching skills. I try to read widely; look at a lot of art; listen to podcasts and take an online course here and there.

Watercolor RulesI had just finished writing a book called Colour - A Practical Approach published by Blurb, when I saw the promos for Watercolour Rules.(You can read about my book here.)

Since there was a short holiday coming up I could devote time to a course . When I saw that IanSidaway was a tutor I decided to enrol. I’ve followed and admired his work for some time. His demonstrations did not disappoint. While these techniques were not new to me, as a teacher I learned a lot. He has a clear approach to explaining concepts and demonstrating watercolour. August Wren and Inma Serrano have different styles and techniques which are also giving me fresh ideas and inspiration. I’m so pleased that I signed up because there's always something new to learn.